The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle
Music · Romance · 1939
In 1911, minor stage comic, Vernon Castle meets the stage-struck Irene Foote. A few misadventures later, they marry and then abandon comedy to attempt a dancing career together. While they're performing in Paris, an agent sees them rehearse and starts them on their brilliant career as the world's foremost ballroom dancers. However, at the height of their fame, World War I begins.
Movie details
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle
“Dazzling entertainment rainbowed by memory's most haunting hit melodies!”
1939 Music · Romance 1h 33m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.0 / 10
Community rating
In 1911, minor stage comic, Vernon Castle meets the stage-struck Irene Foote. A few misadventures later, they marry and then abandon comedy to attempt a dancing career together. While they're performing in Paris, an agent sees them rehearse and starts them on their brilliant career as the world's foremost ballroom dancers. However, at the height of their fame, World War I begins.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Salsa
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All of My Heart: Inn Love
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The Map of Tiny Perfect Things
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Two teenagers trapped in an endless time loop set out to find all the tiny things that make that one day perfect.
Helen of Troy
Adventure · 1956
Prince Paris of Troy, shipwrecked on a mission to the king of Sparta, meets and falls for Queen Helen before he knows who she is. Rudely received by the royal Greeks, he must flee...but fate and their mutual passions lead him to take Helen along. This gives the Greeks just the excuse they need for much-desired war.
Stardust
Adventure · 2007
In a countryside town bordering on a magical land, a young man makes a promise to his beloved that he'll retrieve a fallen star by venturing into the magical realm. His journey takes him into a world beyond his wildest dreams and reveals his true identity.
The Pride and the Passion
War · 1957
During the Napoleonic Wars, when the French have occupied Spain, some Spanish guerrilla soldiers are going to move a big cannon across Spain in order to help the British defeat the French. A British officer is there to accompany the Spanish and along the way, he falls in love with the leader's girl.
Scaramouche
Adventure · 1952
In 18th-century France, a young man masquerades as an actor to avenge his friend's murder.
To Have and Have Not
Adventure · 1945
A Martinique charter boat skipper gets mixed up with the underground French resistance operatives during WWII.
The Scarlet Pimpernel
Romance · 1982
During the French Revolution, a mysterious English nobleman known only as The Scarlet Pimpernel (a humble wayside flower), snatches French aristos from the jaws of the guillotine, while posing as the foppish Sir Percy Blakeney in society. Percy falls for and marries the beautiful actress Marguerite St. Just, but she is involved with Chauvelin and Robespierre, and Percy's marriage to her may endanger the Pimpernel's plans to save the little Dauphin
Ghost
Fantasy · 1990
After a young man is murdered, his spirit stays behind to warn his lover of impending danger, with the help of a reluctant psychic.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
H. C. Potter
Written by
Richard Sherman · Irene Castle
Fred Astaire
Vernon Castle
Ginger Rogers
Irene Castle
Edna May Oliver
Maggie Sutton
Walter Brennan
Walter
Lew Fields
Lew Fields
Etienne Girardot
Papa Aubel
Janet Beecher
Mrs. Foote
Court is in session
Put The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.